hey whats up, i saw something very interesting the other day, a full size 87 bronco with heavy duty (8 lug axles) and of course me being me, i got to thinking what would i need to do that?
which of course is my question

is it just a matter of getting the spindles and rear axle off of an f-250?
i couldnt see why not they are pretty much the same in the front the 250 uses leaf springs in the front thats all, i just want to use the spindles and rear axle anyway, brakes of course need to be up graded, 250 master cyl. and proportioning valve. will the dana 60 front dif fit in the stock broncos radius support beam? i think i heard somewhere that they are basicaly the same size and have the same bolt configuration.

anyone whos done this and has tips would be much appreciated i just think the heavy axles would be better for off roading, that and the dana 60 axles will allow for oversized tires without completely killing fuel economy

 

The front TTB axle in an F-250 is a Dana 50 not a 44. However, there is a method of converting a D44 to an 8-lug unit. I don't know if it can be done to our TTB versions but I know the solid version can be. The rear would most likely be a swap to a D60 or something similar I should think. I am not as well versed in this area as some others. So others may be able to give your more details about this project. But I do know folks have done it.

 

woops yeah thats right the f-250 front dif is a dana 50 not 60, anyway, well, id imagine the f-250 hubs would fit right on the broncos radius support arms, i think the hub and spindle assemblies are the same configuration, heck i think the balljoints are even the same part number as the broncos

anyone else who has any other info would be great.

how bout gearing will the 4 wheel drive work properly with the dana 44 front and dana 60 back?

 

As long as the gear ratios are close enough sure. The D44/8.8 combo in the Bronco and F-series were off by .01 in ratios (stock D44 was 3.54:1 and the 8.8 was 3.55:1) which is why Ford strongly discouraged the use of these part-time 4WD units on dry pavement. The slight discrepancy under conditions that won't allow some slipping between axles has the potential to stretch or even break the t-case chain.

 

I'm doing the swap your talking about right now, except mine's a '95 FSB, so I installed a 10.25 sterling w/ 4.10 and posi out of a '95 F-250 for the rear and I bought a axle to do this swap up front. Dana 44 TTB 8-lug swap. I haven't done the front swap, so I have no info.

 

From what I've read, it was intentional that the front and rear axles have slightly different ratios. It was supposedly to keep the driveline tight to avoid rattles.

 

I guess i had good luck getting the 3.73 ratios then, they're the same front and rear (my guess).

 

Not to be contrary, but it's the lack of a center differential that keeps part-time 4WD vehicles like ours from being driven on dry pavement. That's what binds up the driveline, not the very small difference in front and rear axle ratios.

 

i swapped a dana 60 in my bronco by using the cage long arms.

 

I'm looking for one of the rare Dana 61 front ends from the early Cummins/automatic trans equipped Dodges. Unlike the Dana 60, which can only run a 3.54 ratio or greater, the Dana 61 can run a 3.07 ratio. Everything else is the same on the two Dana designs.
Better strength, better gear ratio, and MUCH better brakes than the Dana 44.

 

the bronco i saw had a solid axle in the front, duno how the heck he did that, i mean in the 87-91 broncos and f-series had identical front rails, but i dont wanna go with a solid axle i wanna keep the i-beam style front end.

ill have to go to the scrap yard this weekend, i need to see if the steering knuckle/hub assembly will adapt to the broncos i-beams, then i have to see what to do about the dif and 4 wheel drive axles, if the axles are the same diameter then thats cool i wont have to worry about fitting the dana 50 dif in ill just use the 44 but if they arent then ill have to see if theres a way to get the drivers side ibeam off of an f-250 into the bronco, not that im gonna try figureing a way to get that dana 50 in anyway

 

The gear ratios are different for the simple fact that to make them identical, one of the two manufacturers would have had to design (and retool) for a ratio that was so close to one of their existing ratios that it would not have been cost effective to do so for one small group of vehicles... namely the F-series. and yes, in spite of the volume of F-series sold, the gear ratio would have ended up being "vehicle specific" and then you would have a situation where you would HAVE to find an F-series ratio to make swaps work and if someone with a D44 from a Jeep wanted to change they would have to be careful not to get a gear set from a Ford... basically endless headaches. So, yeah, it was intentional... because it wasn't cost effective to create the headaches that one manufacturer having to retool to produce a different gearset for one group of vehicles would suffer.

 

Yes you can swap 8 lug stuff onto your TTB. Not sure why you would want to. Might as well swap to a solid front axle and reap in all the benefits of going 8 lug. Dont get a d60 rear. They arent that strong, find you a d70 or sterling 10.25